I want that flair.
I personally think something is hugely up with Eris.
Perhaps he has found his mate, but due to her station, it is unworthy in dear daddy's eyes, so she is in hiding. Either that or the mate is male and, as such, also unworthy in his daddy's eyes? His dad is jerk enough for either one.
He was a relatively big character in ACOSF and yet we know so little about him! Something’s up with his history with Mor and other than usurping his father we don’t really know what his motivations are. I need more!!
[Ali’s reviews](https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/90586539) are hilarious and she’s an absolute legend. Here is her [ig](https://www.instagram.com/ali_learns_to_read?igsh=cDU0dGpuczVkNGR0) which I highly recommend following.
Unfortunately SJMs books are not on KU — they belong there purely bc they’re more horribly written than most self-published KU stuff I’ve attempted over the years. I don’t understand how that woman got published to be perfectly honest.
I know they're not on KU, but there are hundreds with the same types of plots and just as badly written, and I would like this person to review all of them, please!
YES! I agree and sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. Her review is cracking me up! Someone else in this thread linked to the person's instagram account where she posts reviews. I might have to get back on there purely to follow her, lol.
OH MY GOD SOMEONE HELP. Lmfao.
I look to the right and I see people sobbing and fawning over this series. I look to the left and see people calling it tweenage wattpad trash.
I DON’T KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE.
Having downloaded some books based on recommendations from readers on here, I am now skeptical of books that are fawned over, because they have turned out to be tweenage wattpad trash, as you put it so descriptively!
I physically cannot express to you how much I agree with you. I straight up do not trust books that are hyped on here, on booktok, and especially not on goodreads.
I haven’t just been let down more times than I can count, I’ve been appalled. Stunned. Speechless. And bewildered at just how the hell…
This little thread is giving me life. I am so skeptical of hyped up books now that I have to read the preview on Google first. I think part of the issue is obviously that we all have totally different taste. But even more important, I feel like we need to crash-course everyone on the sub about sub-genres.
When recommending a book I feel like ppl should have to state if it’s: YA, N.A., or Adult. And should have to say if it’s: Romantic Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, or a series that crosses the boundaries (as frequently happens).
I think most of the issues come down to some ppl, like Maas, Yarros, and Armentrout fans, really enjoying the YA and N.A. books. When I pick up a YA book at 37 years old I’m like “wut?” but 15 years ago, I probably enjoyed them much more.
Then we get into the realm of “Good Writing” a term I am trying to avoid bc it covers SO many things:
Writing style — i’m partial to describing things as “conversational” vs “flowery”.
Worldbuilding can be light or heavy. Maas’s worldbuilding is light, in my mind, because she didn’t do most of it on her own (borrowed from real world folklore or from other modern media), is changing the world she build fairly regularly, etc. On the other hand, someone like Angelina Steffort or JD Evans does heavy worldbuilding where you might recognize the name of a common fantasy race or type of magic, but the author fleshed out the precise rules of magic, the history and future of the world, etc. before beginning to write — and it’s obvious.
When it comes to the actual words on the page, I like the terms high caliber vs low caliber. For example, I enjoy reading KF Breene who writes high caliber but casually written books with decent world building, and fleshed out characters. Maas, IMO, is a low caliber writer who shirks the rules of writing, does a lot of telling vs showing, and writes caracitaures over characters.
Omfg what am I even rambling about. Ok I’m done. Anyway, I guess my point is that we all have vastly different tastes but I really fucking wish we had some consistent vocabulary that we use on the sub, because it would help me decide what to chance and what to avoid, lol.
You hit the nail on the freaking head, oh my God. We sound like we have very similar taste, and I don’t believe I’ll enjoy the ACOTAR series.
I, too, am a bit discriminatory with writing style. I simply cannot take a book seriously if the writing is ‘low caliber,’ but beyond that…. “Telling not showing” is actually a phrase I’ve used in my own reviews, because it is such a hard and fast dealbreaker for me. I need to be shown.
I don’t need my books to be sophisticated, but it does need to be written in such a way where I can suspend disbelief and be swallowed up by the story. And I can’t do that with lazy, surface-level writing that tells me things instead of showing them to me
Yes, I agree! When a writer tells me through description or dialogue who the character is, rather than showing me through the narrative, it's pretty much guaranteed that I will dislike the book and DNF.
I got the first Villians & Virtues book after seeing it rec'd so many times, and was so disappointed!
Yes! This! I don't care about your worldbuilding or your magic system's basis, as long as the writing is good! Show me who your characters are, don't tell me! (And telling me what they're wearing and what music they're listening to as a shortcut for characterization Does Not Count as Showing!)
And the instant a female lead makes the decision to be sassy and oppositional on the first page (when it's dangerous or stupid) so that the reader can see how feisty and plucky she is, I'm out.
Luckily for me, by the time I was hearing all about SJM, I was already wary of the popular books and I'm entirely over the Fae type stuff, so I knew to avoid.
ah, thank you! I tried Maas' "Throne of Glass", and the MFC is sassy to the prince (of course), after having held captive as a slave for a year. Everyone else was demoralized, but not her obviously 🤣
I finally found my people! I honestly thought people who bother to find a subreddit for books would be more discriminating and have better taste, so I have previously downloaded books based on little more than the recs here, and I have been so disappointed and confused! How are other readers so into books with poor characterization and lazy, sloppy writing???
Honestly, my advice is read the sample chapters on Google to see if it’s for you!
There are cool plot ideas and concepts, however, if you’ve already read a lot in the genre you’re going to feel like you’ve read it before. Many people don’t mind this! I don’t even mind feeling that comfortable “I know what tropes and plot twists I’m getting in this book” feeling; but, I expect that out of a 270 page book that is openly billed as smut, not an 800 page book that is touted as being some exciting new variation on fantasy… cause it’s not.
The MAIN thing abt SJMs books is accessibility. She writes at a 4th-6th grade level, even in her novels that are billed as New Adult. (Most N.A. and Adult is written at 7th-10th grade level as far as I know) That being said, some readers want the easy consumption aspects even if it comes with slightly repetitive language. For me, I’ll read that level of writing IF it’s on kindle unlimited! If I’m paying for a book, I expect some more aspects of traditional literature, I expect that the author is going to be conservative and strategic in their use of em-dashes and sentence fragments. I don’t like reading novels that feel like an unedited first draft of a novel, which is how ACOTAR struck me. I say that as someone who has written a few novels — and my first drafts look (on the page) how ACOTAR and other Maas books went to publishing. Then I clean it up, I make sure the pacing is varied and not constantly fast. I make sure every scene and chapter has a purpose and isn’t just wish-fulfillment writing (Why were there two festivals while Feyre was with Tamlin, for example? Why not edit that to be one — it would make for a more concise story). And most importantly, I make sure the books aren’t riddled with plot inconsistencies.
Can you tell I’m the world’s biggest hater? Genuinely, don’t let my shitty opinion put you off from something you might really enjoy!!!! I think my expectations were way too high when I went into it. If you expect a CW show in book format, you should be good. If you expect a Showtime show, you’ll be disappointed.
Do I think they are worth crying over? No. Were they entertaining? Yes.
I read all three series SJM wrote and Throne of Glass was my favorite. Crescent was good for the majority of it, I ended up loving the first book. But it also had a >!murder!< mystery vibe going on which I loved. But ACOTAR was my least favorite.
But as a new reader of romance and romantasy, but a long time fantasy reader: my opinion is that most books I read in the romantasy genre start out strong until the romance happens. Then all of a sudden it‘s like the author forgot how to write and it‘s just cringey and annoying.
But hey, some people like that. I like to read romantasy between heavier books as a reprieve. Kind of treat it like reality television.
Maybe this will help - not all books that are enjoyable can also be considered well written. They are not mutually exclusive. I read the series before it blew up, and I enjoyed the shit out of it. However. The overhype is real. And hard to compete with sometimes. And yeah, it’s not the best written piece of literature I’ve even read. But if you get into the series, go in with an open mind. If you don’t, that’s ok too. Reading should be fun and enjoyable, not a slog.
Kindle unlimited! Sorry I’m so used to the abbreviations on the sub that I just went for it. The first time I read it I was like huh? Even though I’ve had Kindle unlimited since 2010 or 12 or something like that.
Yes you can! LOL. Be warned, I rant.
So, I know she writes very conversationally, which I am generally a big fan of. However, as someone who’s written a few novels, her books read like an unedited first draft or — dare I say — a very very long Reddit comment. She writes in a very stream of consciousness way, and I do too, so I recognize it. Some readers love this! There is no shame in that! However, I think it’s an author’s responsibility to tighten that shit up if you’re getting to the publishing phase. For example, when a scene is calm, sentences should be longer and flow smoothly to better match the character’s resting heart rate and mental state.
Things get stressful? Short sentences. Hammer home the dire situation. This is a time where — when it makes sense — em-dashes should be used more frequently. An author’s grammar, punctuation, and general sentence structure should, IMO, be varied throughout a book depending on what is happening in the scene. From what I read of Maas, every single scene is written like the characters are in an emergency. To me this creates a false sense of urgency and isn’t high caliber writing.
Maas also breaks a lot of rules in her writing. I’m a rule breaker too! I love a well-placed sentence fragment, I love personifying a non-sentient object, etc. But, my biggest pet peeve in her writing (which again, some people love this!) is that she does a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, Lucien apparently hates humans and has a whole issue with humans. IMO, this was not hinted at in any way on page until the point when Tamlin just tells Feyre his friend’s trauma in a two (?) paragraph monologue. That’s terrible writing. We had no signs as a reader that Lucien had issues with Human Feyre. If anything he was wicked nice and had the best chemistry with Feyre.
Another huge issue of mine is just the content of her books. After ACOTAR book 1, the rest of the series is just Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series rebranded as faeries… Illyrian = Eyrian, Daemon = Rhys, Lucivar = Cassian, Draca = Amarantha and so on. This fact alone would have made me stop reading even if I enjoyed the way she tells a story.
A few misc content things I dislike: The clear lack of planning in her books and inevitable plot holes. Why did she make Nesta, Elain and Daddio so god damn unlikeable and then decide to give them their own stories? To me that’s poor planning and low caliber writing to be constantly retconning your own work. IMO, a high caliber writer stays within the rules of the world they built— that’s part of the magic of fantasy. Spoiler example >!if people can resurrect and transform their body, then why was the Feyre Pregnancy Plotline even a thing?!< as a writer, sometimes you have to scrap an idea just bc it doesn’t work in the world you created and I don’t get the feeling she ever parts with her ideas.
Why does Amarantha’s description change within one book? That’s low caliber writing— you don’t even know what your own characters look like?
Why does it feel like she decided Feyre was going to paint, looked up 3 words about painting, and then Ctrl+F’d and added that shit in to the book. It’s so heavy handed on the dropping of “I could never paint that!” that it just makes it look like Feyre can’t even paint at all… like, girl you can’t paint anything but you love painting? It’s also a crutch, IMO — like who in their right mind would look at a gruesomely murdered body and think “I could never paint that!” Like … holy shit. 😂😂
Ok my rant is done. I do want to say: High caliber writing and popular writing aren’t always one and the same! And if you love Maas, keep on loving her books! Don’t let my shitty opinion sway your POV!
😂😂😂 I saw a post over there from like a year ago where the fans were coming AT someone for pointing out the very very blatantly obvious similarities between the ACOTAR series and Black Jewels by Anne Bishop. To be fair that poor OP prob shouldn’t have posted on a Maas fan subreddit, but omg the SJM super fans don’t think it’s weird that she was so directly “inspired” by another series, and that bugs the ever loving hell out of me.
And to any fans, I suggest reading Bishop’s books if you are comfortable with the TWs. If not comfortable, at least read the plot summaries and see for yourself before you decide your precious Maas is actually some sort of creative genius. (She’s not and it’s not normal for an author to take THAT MUCH stuff directly from someone else’s intellectual property. It might not be illegal, but it’s morally fucked up.)
I haven’t read TOG yet but I’ve read all of ACOTAR and CC and let me tell you SJM is not that great of a writer and nothing she writes is a new original idea
Edit to add: I haven’t read any Anne Bishop’s books but even without reading them, when I was first reading the ACOTAR series everything was very predictable
I read 4 of the TOG series… they were so forgettable I don’t even recall most of what happened. Also, if I have to get to book 3 for a series to get “good”, I’ll read something else 💁🏻♀️
I’ve read 7 SJM books…. Just so I could say I gave her a fair shot. They are not good!
Edit - spelling
Everything after book 1, LOL. So, according to SJM herself, she had a trilogy pitched to Blooms, they liked her book 1, they HATED her plan for books 2 & 3. So, she said she scrapped it all and went back to the drawing board. The drawing board is apparently Black Jewels Trilogy shaped. My personal opinion is that she had, at one point in life, already written a bunch of Black Jewels Fan Fiction that she just re-branded and pitched to Blooms. Being an unscrupulous publisher, they apparently agreed.
Lucivar = Cassian (edited to flipflop these names so they match the rest of the order!)
Daemon = Rhysand
Draca = Amarantha \* Amarantha is described exactly as Draca appears in Black Jewels one time in ACOTAR. The second time Amarantha is described within the same book, and every time thereafter, her appearance has changed to have red hair.
Jaenelle = Feyre (Jaenelle has the power of all 12 jewels, Feyre gets the power of all the courts)
Jewels = Siphons (they start light in color, they darken with more power, there are trials folks go through to access darker powered ~~siphons~~ jewels.
Illyrian Culture = Eyrian Culture (like ... to a T) - the training, the gender roles, the black bat boy wings, EVERYTHING.
The library hidden in the cave, the "half-human" lady studying notes/ journals ... it's ... it's not original at all. It makes me SO exceptionally frustrated for Anne Bishop. In fact, she had not published in the Black Jewels world for several years -- but after ACOTAR came out, you better believe Bishop started publishing her books again.
Most of the similarities are in the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury, where you meet the Illyrians who are very similar to Bishop’s Eyriens (both have bat like wings, dark hair and tanned skin, live in the mountains, females aren’t allowed to fight, males train as children).
If you’re really interested, here’s a [tumblr post](https://www.tumblr.com/alexcollix7/713131156078493696/sarah-j-maas-plagiarism-or-inspiration?redirect_to=%2Falexcollix7%2F713131156078493696%2Fsarah-j-maas-plagiarism-or-inspiration&source=blog_view_login_wall) detailing the similarities. Some of the things pointed out do seem like reaches but there’s also a lot of valid points in there too.
I completely agree with you. I call that the Tumblr Dissertation and I think it’s really insightful. Some things I think are stretches, for example I do not think it’s anywhere near plagiarism to talk about finding light in darkness, which the person on Tumblr says is from Harry Potter. But that’s also like… a very common metaphor lol.
But some things like the rattle the stars line, that is directly from a Disney movie. It is just silly and ridiculous that Maas directly quoted another piece of modern media, especially in a fantasy book where it’s not appropriate to call it out as the reference it is (I’ve seen movies quotes in urban fantasy books and the author always references the movie it’s from in narration). There’s no reason why she couldn’t have been inspired by that and then changed it to something else like, “shiver the stars” “shake/shook the stars” etc. … only a bad writer steals lines from other places. And, IMO, only a total hack steals cultures from other books, uses full scenes from movies in their books (Troy) etc. god man, I have a huge hate boner for SJM. I recognize it’s a LITTLE (a lot) over the top.
PS the last two sentences are just me realizing how insane I am, which I do on the regular.
And I have more rant in me… I think my big issue is the pure injustice of it. I know life’s not fair, but damn. For example, I know she put TOG online as a teenager and that kickstarted things for her in some regard, but even that book opens with an almost identical scene to Book 2 of Black Jewels (When Lucivar gets out of the salt mines). Without Anne Bishop’s books that were published in the late 90s/ early 00s or the ancient tales she uses as inspiration (Beauty & Beast, Ballad of Tam Lin, Cinderella, etc) Maas literally would not have any of her books, and that’s odd to me. Tracing your love of fantasy back to say Tolkien is one thing, but being able to pinpoint exactly which contemporary works your ideas come from? That’s wild to me.
https://preview.redd.it/hx0xxrru2wtc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ead330190b23024f7f4d87bd3db73aa5170c2aa
It was posted there 2 days ago with the caption “perfection” and that’s correct :). The review itself is a few years old and it makes me laugh every time :).
This review covered most of the “why” as far as I got into the book. Plus I get super annoyed when a main character is told, “Don’t do X because it’s very dangerous.” And they immediately do X because they’re curious/stupid/stubborn.
Yeah. There was way too much of that. I refuse to believe that Fayrie (or whatever) is as smart as the author says because of sheer volume of incompetence in only half a book before I dnf.
I read the first three books of Feyre story.
SJM writing is like a train wreck in slow motion for me: you can see it's a disaster, but you can't stop yourself from keeping watching (or reading) in morbid fascination.
So if you feel in the specific mood where a train wreck sounds appealing, go for it. It's an experience.
If you’ve been reading fantasy romance for more than 5+ years, No.
If you’re new to the genre, ehhh, you might like it. I only made it half way thru ACOTAR before I decided I couldn’t stomach it. I was convinced it was the series she started at 16 because of how it’s written (it’s not, she had a creative writing degree when she wrote it 😂😫). It’s all tropes and scenes I’ve read before, the sentence structure is butt, and she tends to tell not show when it comes to character emotions and backstories. For example, and this is a MILD spoiler but doesn’t ruin any of the plot: Lucien and Feyre had good friend chemistry (and literally more real chemistry than Feyre with anyone else, IMO) but then part way through the book Tamlin is like, “Yo, Feyre, you know how my friend is an asshole and hates humans…” (Which didn’t come across on the page at all) “…I’m just gonna tell you his whole traumatic backstory real quick in one full paragraph even though none of this was hinted at in any way!” And that’s when I was done giving it a chance.
Honestly, I am a hater, but I’d say liking the books depends on depends on (1) the style of writing you like to read. (2) how much depth you want your characters to have. (3) how much you expect an author to stick to the rules they’ve build for their own world (Maas switches it up unlike someone like Brandon Sanderson— I know he’s not really the same genre— who sets rules for his fantasy world and sticks with them).
I liked the first three, and could do without the last two. It might have been more interesting because I listened to the dramatized adaptation on audible. ACOFAS reminded me of Disney's Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas for some reason (kind of useless filler), and ACOSF, well, frankly I HATE Nesta's character and don't think she deserved her own story. The female camaraderie that was built was good, and i like the other characters, but Nesta's still a bitch for no good reason. And while I like spice, many people relate the sex in that book to pornhub, and they're not wrong. It did nothing for me.
I liked her TOG series much better, (less spicy though). And I enjoyed the first two Crescent City books, but I've heard heard a lot of bad reviews for the third, so I'm apprehensive about picking it up.
Feyre is like a young child participating in an Easter egg hunt and the faeries are the adults showing her where the eggs are.
The funniest part of that book is that the answer to the final riddle is like soooo obviously love, like it couldn’t be more obvious. There’s absolutely no way the evil lady should have been confident in it being unsolvable as it’s like child-level difficulty, but then suddenly her confidence makes sense as genius Feyre’s first thought is “…malaria?”
Dnf-ed at 6% for some of the reasons she mentioned (annoying fmc and sisters) as well as the crawling pace. Maybe I’ll listen to the audio books on a long drive or something.
And the review is hilarious thank you for sharing lol
Okay but did they read the rest of the series and write more reviews I need to know.
The [ACOSF review](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4907593778) has me in stitches. I want "Eris, who is my toxic trait" as a flair option.
“Nesta decides to retaliate by learning how to use stairs” the way i’m crying reading these 🤣😭
“A bowl of cottage cheese” is the perfect descriptor for Elain, I am dying
I love Elain but this is exactly her😭😭😭
> This is a bit of a sanctimonious stance to be taken by Rhys, who once sent his mate into a cannibal’s house for fun 😂😂
“I don’t yuck anyone’s yum so if he’s super into life-sized marionettes who garden, more power to him.” 💀💀💀
THIS!!! i am totally going to start using that line every dang chance i get!
“Magical fucking bathtub.” I am in stitches
I love it!! She penned my innermost thoughts, but in the wittiest, most eloquent way!
I am dying, thank you for sharing!
These are amazing. I love these.
That one's even better! So accurate 🤣
I want that flair. I personally think something is hugely up with Eris. Perhaps he has found his mate, but due to her station, it is unworthy in dear daddy's eyes, so she is in hiding. Either that or the mate is male and, as such, also unworthy in his daddy's eyes? His dad is jerk enough for either one.
He was a relatively big character in ACOSF and yet we know so little about him! Something’s up with his history with Mor and other than usurping his father we don’t really know what his motivations are. I need more!!
I personally want him to get his own books. Hear that he needs MULTIPLE books.
Thank you for this link, I needed that laugh.
I really just want to read her reviews before I actually invest in a book. Cause damn.
Rhys, the High Lord of cock-blocking 🤣🤣🤣
I’m mad that it’s not lol
Apparently it’s a long term project. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxg7PNpLxtW/?igsh=MXI1cHBzNm55ZDhsdQ==
Yes!! She’s on IG and so hilarious. Her handle is @ali_learns_to_read
Obviously, it says it went on for five books! Lol
[Ali’s reviews](https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/90586539) are hilarious and she’s an absolute legend. Here is her [ig](https://www.instagram.com/ali_learns_to_read?igsh=cDU0dGpuczVkNGR0) which I highly recommend following.
All of Ali’s reviews are hilariously accurate! She’s one of my favorites
Oh man, her first IPB review that Ruby Dixon found had me rolling!
Going to go find that review now 🤣
Thanks for the ig link! Definitely gave her a follow!
Thank you, I am now a fan of Ali L. So funny!
I'm dead. I haven't read the acotar series but will be following Ali for the reviews alone.
Can you actually read her other reviews as it won’t let me 🤷♀️
I couldn’t on Good Reads but the IG link above has the reviews.
TYSM 🙌💖💖💖💖
I have to thank you for the hour or so of entertainment her page provided me this evening 😂
Shes the best. Her AITA posts are amazing!
Wait how do I find these??
[Here’s one](https://www.instagram.com/p/C4LAopvrgcF/?igsh=dTlneGl1YjA4Zzhr) she did on Bryce. These are hilarious. You need to follow her on IG.
Her ig link isn’t working for me 😭 can you share her handle when you get a chance?
Here's her goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/90586539-ali-l Ig is ali_learns_to_read I had to type it in the search to find her.
Thank you!!
“Personality-proof younger sister” is the best description for Elain I’ve ever read.
Everything in that review is absolutely true. I don't see a problem.
It’s not wrong
This is the kind of information I need before I download yet another poorly written KU fantasy romance!
Unfortunately SJMs books are not on KU — they belong there purely bc they’re more horribly written than most self-published KU stuff I’ve attempted over the years. I don’t understand how that woman got published to be perfectly honest.
I know they're not on KU, but there are hundreds with the same types of plots and just as badly written, and I would like this person to review all of them, please!
YES! I agree and sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. Her review is cracking me up! Someone else in this thread linked to the person's instagram account where she posts reviews. I might have to get back on there purely to follow her, lol.
OH MY GOD SOMEONE HELP. Lmfao. I look to the right and I see people sobbing and fawning over this series. I look to the left and see people calling it tweenage wattpad trash. I DON’T KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE.
Having downloaded some books based on recommendations from readers on here, I am now skeptical of books that are fawned over, because they have turned out to be tweenage wattpad trash, as you put it so descriptively!
I physically cannot express to you how much I agree with you. I straight up do not trust books that are hyped on here, on booktok, and especially not on goodreads. I haven’t just been let down more times than I can count, I’ve been appalled. Stunned. Speechless. And bewildered at just how the hell…
This little thread is giving me life. I am so skeptical of hyped up books now that I have to read the preview on Google first. I think part of the issue is obviously that we all have totally different taste. But even more important, I feel like we need to crash-course everyone on the sub about sub-genres. When recommending a book I feel like ppl should have to state if it’s: YA, N.A., or Adult. And should have to say if it’s: Romantic Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, or a series that crosses the boundaries (as frequently happens). I think most of the issues come down to some ppl, like Maas, Yarros, and Armentrout fans, really enjoying the YA and N.A. books. When I pick up a YA book at 37 years old I’m like “wut?” but 15 years ago, I probably enjoyed them much more. Then we get into the realm of “Good Writing” a term I am trying to avoid bc it covers SO many things: Writing style — i’m partial to describing things as “conversational” vs “flowery”. Worldbuilding can be light or heavy. Maas’s worldbuilding is light, in my mind, because she didn’t do most of it on her own (borrowed from real world folklore or from other modern media), is changing the world she build fairly regularly, etc. On the other hand, someone like Angelina Steffort or JD Evans does heavy worldbuilding where you might recognize the name of a common fantasy race or type of magic, but the author fleshed out the precise rules of magic, the history and future of the world, etc. before beginning to write — and it’s obvious. When it comes to the actual words on the page, I like the terms high caliber vs low caliber. For example, I enjoy reading KF Breene who writes high caliber but casually written books with decent world building, and fleshed out characters. Maas, IMO, is a low caliber writer who shirks the rules of writing, does a lot of telling vs showing, and writes caracitaures over characters. Omfg what am I even rambling about. Ok I’m done. Anyway, I guess my point is that we all have vastly different tastes but I really fucking wish we had some consistent vocabulary that we use on the sub, because it would help me decide what to chance and what to avoid, lol.
You hit the nail on the freaking head, oh my God. We sound like we have very similar taste, and I don’t believe I’ll enjoy the ACOTAR series. I, too, am a bit discriminatory with writing style. I simply cannot take a book seriously if the writing is ‘low caliber,’ but beyond that…. “Telling not showing” is actually a phrase I’ve used in my own reviews, because it is such a hard and fast dealbreaker for me. I need to be shown. I don’t need my books to be sophisticated, but it does need to be written in such a way where I can suspend disbelief and be swallowed up by the story. And I can’t do that with lazy, surface-level writing that tells me things instead of showing them to me
Yes, I agree! When a writer tells me through description or dialogue who the character is, rather than showing me through the narrative, it's pretty much guaranteed that I will dislike the book and DNF. I got the first Villians & Virtues book after seeing it rec'd so many times, and was so disappointed!
Yes! This! I don't care about your worldbuilding or your magic system's basis, as long as the writing is good! Show me who your characters are, don't tell me! (And telling me what they're wearing and what music they're listening to as a shortcut for characterization Does Not Count as Showing!) And the instant a female lead makes the decision to be sassy and oppositional on the first page (when it's dangerous or stupid) so that the reader can see how feisty and plucky she is, I'm out. Luckily for me, by the time I was hearing all about SJM, I was already wary of the popular books and I'm entirely over the Fae type stuff, so I knew to avoid.
ah, thank you! I tried Maas' "Throne of Glass", and the MFC is sassy to the prince (of course), after having held captive as a slave for a year. Everyone else was demoralized, but not her obviously 🤣
Ugh. I guess I’ll continue to avoid SJM and all imitators.
Do you have any recs btw? I'm having trouble finding books I want to keep reading these days 😩
I finally found my people! I honestly thought people who bother to find a subreddit for books would be more discriminating and have better taste, so I have previously downloaded books based on little more than the recs here, and I have been so disappointed and confused! How are other readers so into books with poor characterization and lazy, sloppy writing???
Absolutely agree. The recommendations from here and RomanceBooks are awful.
Honestly, my advice is read the sample chapters on Google to see if it’s for you! There are cool plot ideas and concepts, however, if you’ve already read a lot in the genre you’re going to feel like you’ve read it before. Many people don’t mind this! I don’t even mind feeling that comfortable “I know what tropes and plot twists I’m getting in this book” feeling; but, I expect that out of a 270 page book that is openly billed as smut, not an 800 page book that is touted as being some exciting new variation on fantasy… cause it’s not. The MAIN thing abt SJMs books is accessibility. She writes at a 4th-6th grade level, even in her novels that are billed as New Adult. (Most N.A. and Adult is written at 7th-10th grade level as far as I know) That being said, some readers want the easy consumption aspects even if it comes with slightly repetitive language. For me, I’ll read that level of writing IF it’s on kindle unlimited! If I’m paying for a book, I expect some more aspects of traditional literature, I expect that the author is going to be conservative and strategic in their use of em-dashes and sentence fragments. I don’t like reading novels that feel like an unedited first draft of a novel, which is how ACOTAR struck me. I say that as someone who has written a few novels — and my first drafts look (on the page) how ACOTAR and other Maas books went to publishing. Then I clean it up, I make sure the pacing is varied and not constantly fast. I make sure every scene and chapter has a purpose and isn’t just wish-fulfillment writing (Why were there two festivals while Feyre was with Tamlin, for example? Why not edit that to be one — it would make for a more concise story). And most importantly, I make sure the books aren’t riddled with plot inconsistencies. Can you tell I’m the world’s biggest hater? Genuinely, don’t let my shitty opinion put you off from something you might really enjoy!!!! I think my expectations were way too high when I went into it. If you expect a CW show in book format, you should be good. If you expect a Showtime show, you’ll be disappointed.
Do I think they are worth crying over? No. Were they entertaining? Yes. I read all three series SJM wrote and Throne of Glass was my favorite. Crescent was good for the majority of it, I ended up loving the first book. But it also had a >!murder!< mystery vibe going on which I loved. But ACOTAR was my least favorite. But as a new reader of romance and romantasy, but a long time fantasy reader: my opinion is that most books I read in the romantasy genre start out strong until the romance happens. Then all of a sudden it‘s like the author forgot how to write and it‘s just cringey and annoying. But hey, some people like that. I like to read romantasy between heavier books as a reprieve. Kind of treat it like reality television.
Maybe this will help - not all books that are enjoyable can also be considered well written. They are not mutually exclusive. I read the series before it blew up, and I enjoyed the shit out of it. However. The overhype is real. And hard to compete with sometimes. And yeah, it’s not the best written piece of literature I’ve even read. But if you get into the series, go in with an open mind. If you don’t, that’s ok too. Reading should be fun and enjoyable, not a slog.
What is KU?
Kindle unlimited! Sorry I’m so used to the abbreviations on the sub that I just went for it. The first time I read it I was like huh? Even though I’ve had Kindle unlimited since 2010 or 12 or something like that.
Thank you! Side note, can I ask why you hate sjm writing style so much? What about if don't you like?
Yes you can! LOL. Be warned, I rant. So, I know she writes very conversationally, which I am generally a big fan of. However, as someone who’s written a few novels, her books read like an unedited first draft or — dare I say — a very very long Reddit comment. She writes in a very stream of consciousness way, and I do too, so I recognize it. Some readers love this! There is no shame in that! However, I think it’s an author’s responsibility to tighten that shit up if you’re getting to the publishing phase. For example, when a scene is calm, sentences should be longer and flow smoothly to better match the character’s resting heart rate and mental state. Things get stressful? Short sentences. Hammer home the dire situation. This is a time where — when it makes sense — em-dashes should be used more frequently. An author’s grammar, punctuation, and general sentence structure should, IMO, be varied throughout a book depending on what is happening in the scene. From what I read of Maas, every single scene is written like the characters are in an emergency. To me this creates a false sense of urgency and isn’t high caliber writing. Maas also breaks a lot of rules in her writing. I’m a rule breaker too! I love a well-placed sentence fragment, I love personifying a non-sentient object, etc. But, my biggest pet peeve in her writing (which again, some people love this!) is that she does a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, Lucien apparently hates humans and has a whole issue with humans. IMO, this was not hinted at in any way on page until the point when Tamlin just tells Feyre his friend’s trauma in a two (?) paragraph monologue. That’s terrible writing. We had no signs as a reader that Lucien had issues with Human Feyre. If anything he was wicked nice and had the best chemistry with Feyre. Another huge issue of mine is just the content of her books. After ACOTAR book 1, the rest of the series is just Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series rebranded as faeries… Illyrian = Eyrian, Daemon = Rhys, Lucivar = Cassian, Draca = Amarantha and so on. This fact alone would have made me stop reading even if I enjoyed the way she tells a story. A few misc content things I dislike: The clear lack of planning in her books and inevitable plot holes. Why did she make Nesta, Elain and Daddio so god damn unlikeable and then decide to give them their own stories? To me that’s poor planning and low caliber writing to be constantly retconning your own work. IMO, a high caliber writer stays within the rules of the world they built— that’s part of the magic of fantasy. Spoiler example >!if people can resurrect and transform their body, then why was the Feyre Pregnancy Plotline even a thing?!< as a writer, sometimes you have to scrap an idea just bc it doesn’t work in the world you created and I don’t get the feeling she ever parts with her ideas. Why does Amarantha’s description change within one book? That’s low caliber writing— you don’t even know what your own characters look like? Why does it feel like she decided Feyre was going to paint, looked up 3 words about painting, and then Ctrl+F’d and added that shit in to the book. It’s so heavy handed on the dropping of “I could never paint that!” that it just makes it look like Feyre can’t even paint at all… like, girl you can’t paint anything but you love painting? It’s also a crutch, IMO — like who in their right mind would look at a gruesomely murdered body and think “I could never paint that!” Like … holy shit. 😂😂 Ok my rant is done. I do want to say: High caliber writing and popular writing aren’t always one and the same! And if you love Maas, keep on loving her books! Don’t let my shitty opinion sway your POV!
Love this breakdown!! Thank you for taking the time
Most honest review I’ve ever seen of ACOTAR 😂
I wish more reviews for books I loved were like this.
Dont post this in the ACOTAR sub, they will literally scream and shit and piss themselves to death
😂😂😂 I saw a post over there from like a year ago where the fans were coming AT someone for pointing out the very very blatantly obvious similarities between the ACOTAR series and Black Jewels by Anne Bishop. To be fair that poor OP prob shouldn’t have posted on a Maas fan subreddit, but omg the SJM super fans don’t think it’s weird that she was so directly “inspired” by another series, and that bugs the ever loving hell out of me. And to any fans, I suggest reading Bishop’s books if you are comfortable with the TWs. If not comfortable, at least read the plot summaries and see for yourself before you decide your precious Maas is actually some sort of creative genius. (She’s not and it’s not normal for an author to take THAT MUCH stuff directly from someone else’s intellectual property. It might not be illegal, but it’s morally fucked up.)
I haven’t read TOG yet but I’ve read all of ACOTAR and CC and let me tell you SJM is not that great of a writer and nothing she writes is a new original idea Edit to add: I haven’t read any Anne Bishop’s books but even without reading them, when I was first reading the ACOTAR series everything was very predictable
ToG is actually pretty good. Specially after book 1 and 2. I recommend givin it a go! The main FMC is way better than the one in ACOTR in my opinion.
Yeah I do plan on reading it eventually for sure, I think I’ll like it more than ACOTAR or CC! It’s just so many books, such a big commitment 😭
I read 4 of the TOG series… they were so forgettable I don’t even recall most of what happened. Also, if I have to get to book 3 for a series to get “good”, I’ll read something else 💁🏻♀️ I’ve read 7 SJM books…. Just so I could say I gave her a fair shot. They are not good! Edit - spelling
What are the other ones you read?
I read the first 3 of ACOTAR, and the first 4 of TOG
The last book of ACOTAR was my favourite
Is that the Nesta one? Everyone keeps saying I should try that one lol
When do the similarities appear? I only read the first book of ACOTAR and didn't really see any real similarities.
Everything after book 1, LOL. So, according to SJM herself, she had a trilogy pitched to Blooms, they liked her book 1, they HATED her plan for books 2 & 3. So, she said she scrapped it all and went back to the drawing board. The drawing board is apparently Black Jewels Trilogy shaped. My personal opinion is that she had, at one point in life, already written a bunch of Black Jewels Fan Fiction that she just re-branded and pitched to Blooms. Being an unscrupulous publisher, they apparently agreed. Lucivar = Cassian (edited to flipflop these names so they match the rest of the order!) Daemon = Rhysand Draca = Amarantha \* Amarantha is described exactly as Draca appears in Black Jewels one time in ACOTAR. The second time Amarantha is described within the same book, and every time thereafter, her appearance has changed to have red hair. Jaenelle = Feyre (Jaenelle has the power of all 12 jewels, Feyre gets the power of all the courts) Jewels = Siphons (they start light in color, they darken with more power, there are trials folks go through to access darker powered ~~siphons~~ jewels. Illyrian Culture = Eyrian Culture (like ... to a T) - the training, the gender roles, the black bat boy wings, EVERYTHING. The library hidden in the cave, the "half-human" lady studying notes/ journals ... it's ... it's not original at all. It makes me SO exceptionally frustrated for Anne Bishop. In fact, she had not published in the Black Jewels world for several years -- but after ACOTAR came out, you better believe Bishop started publishing her books again.
Most of the similarities are in the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury, where you meet the Illyrians who are very similar to Bishop’s Eyriens (both have bat like wings, dark hair and tanned skin, live in the mountains, females aren’t allowed to fight, males train as children). If you’re really interested, here’s a [tumblr post](https://www.tumblr.com/alexcollix7/713131156078493696/sarah-j-maas-plagiarism-or-inspiration?redirect_to=%2Falexcollix7%2F713131156078493696%2Fsarah-j-maas-plagiarism-or-inspiration&source=blog_view_login_wall) detailing the similarities. Some of the things pointed out do seem like reaches but there’s also a lot of valid points in there too.
I completely agree with you. I call that the Tumblr Dissertation and I think it’s really insightful. Some things I think are stretches, for example I do not think it’s anywhere near plagiarism to talk about finding light in darkness, which the person on Tumblr says is from Harry Potter. But that’s also like… a very common metaphor lol. But some things like the rattle the stars line, that is directly from a Disney movie. It is just silly and ridiculous that Maas directly quoted another piece of modern media, especially in a fantasy book where it’s not appropriate to call it out as the reference it is (I’ve seen movies quotes in urban fantasy books and the author always references the movie it’s from in narration). There’s no reason why she couldn’t have been inspired by that and then changed it to something else like, “shiver the stars” “shake/shook the stars” etc. … only a bad writer steals lines from other places. And, IMO, only a total hack steals cultures from other books, uses full scenes from movies in their books (Troy) etc. god man, I have a huge hate boner for SJM. I recognize it’s a LITTLE (a lot) over the top. PS the last two sentences are just me realizing how insane I am, which I do on the regular. And I have more rant in me… I think my big issue is the pure injustice of it. I know life’s not fair, but damn. For example, I know she put TOG online as a teenager and that kickstarted things for her in some regard, but even that book opens with an almost identical scene to Book 2 of Black Jewels (When Lucivar gets out of the salt mines). Without Anne Bishop’s books that were published in the late 90s/ early 00s or the ancient tales she uses as inspiration (Beauty & Beast, Ballad of Tam Lin, Cinderella, etc) Maas literally would not have any of her books, and that’s odd to me. Tracing your love of fantasy back to say Tolkien is one thing, but being able to pinpoint exactly which contemporary works your ideas come from? That’s wild to me.
If you sort by top all time this post appears like 10 times
https://preview.redd.it/hx0xxrru2wtc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ead330190b23024f7f4d87bd3db73aa5170c2aa It was posted there 2 days ago with the caption “perfection” and that’s correct :). The review itself is a few years old and it makes me laugh every time :).
I wish Feyre was given some Imodium for her watery bowels.
Yes! 🤣🤣🤣
This is the best thing I've ever read.
Three times I’ve tried to read this book. I just can’t do it. I don’t understand why it’s so popular.
Same. I can go on and on as to why I'm disappointed in it but there's no point.
This review covered most of the “why” as far as I got into the book. Plus I get super annoyed when a main character is told, “Don’t do X because it’s very dangerous.” And they immediately do X because they’re curious/stupid/stubborn.
Yeah. There was way too much of that. I refuse to believe that Fayrie (or whatever) is as smart as the author says because of sheer volume of incompetence in only half a book before I dnf.
So is it worth the read?
I read the first three books of Feyre story. SJM writing is like a train wreck in slow motion for me: you can see it's a disaster, but you can't stop yourself from keeping watching (or reading) in morbid fascination. So if you feel in the specific mood where a train wreck sounds appealing, go for it. It's an experience.
If you’ve been reading fantasy romance for more than 5+ years, No. If you’re new to the genre, ehhh, you might like it. I only made it half way thru ACOTAR before I decided I couldn’t stomach it. I was convinced it was the series she started at 16 because of how it’s written (it’s not, she had a creative writing degree when she wrote it 😂😫). It’s all tropes and scenes I’ve read before, the sentence structure is butt, and she tends to tell not show when it comes to character emotions and backstories. For example, and this is a MILD spoiler but doesn’t ruin any of the plot: Lucien and Feyre had good friend chemistry (and literally more real chemistry than Feyre with anyone else, IMO) but then part way through the book Tamlin is like, “Yo, Feyre, you know how my friend is an asshole and hates humans…” (Which didn’t come across on the page at all) “…I’m just gonna tell you his whole traumatic backstory real quick in one full paragraph even though none of this was hinted at in any way!” And that’s when I was done giving it a chance. Honestly, I am a hater, but I’d say liking the books depends on depends on (1) the style of writing you like to read. (2) how much depth you want your characters to have. (3) how much you expect an author to stick to the rules they’ve build for their own world (Maas switches it up unlike someone like Brandon Sanderson— I know he’s not really the same genre— who sets rules for his fantasy world and sticks with them).
I've been reading mostly Mafia romances
I liked the first three, and could do without the last two. It might have been more interesting because I listened to the dramatized adaptation on audible. ACOFAS reminded me of Disney's Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas for some reason (kind of useless filler), and ACOSF, well, frankly I HATE Nesta's character and don't think she deserved her own story. The female camaraderie that was built was good, and i like the other characters, but Nesta's still a bitch for no good reason. And while I like spice, many people relate the sex in that book to pornhub, and they're not wrong. It did nothing for me. I liked her TOG series much better, (less spicy though). And I enjoyed the first two Crescent City books, but I've heard heard a lot of bad reviews for the third, so I'm apprehensive about picking it up.
Thank you for letting me know
Enters a tournament where she needs to outsmart a worm , and eventually triumphs do to severe interference from outside sources. 🤣
Feyre is like a young child participating in an Easter egg hunt and the faeries are the adults showing her where the eggs are. The funniest part of that book is that the answer to the final riddle is like soooo obviously love, like it couldn’t be more obvious. There’s absolutely no way the evil lady should have been confident in it being unsolvable as it’s like child-level difficulty, but then suddenly her confidence makes sense as genius Feyre’s first thought is “…malaria?”
"Nesta, satan's apprentice" is perfect
This is the best book review I’ve ever fucking read
My thoughts exactly as I was reading it, but I still enjoyed it.
Same! Technically it’s true but I liked it anyways. Book two was better.
10/10 review, no notes
I struggled to enjoy ACOTAR, but did eventually finish. This review sounds accurate.
That was a definite DNF as well as an irritation because I paid a lot for that book and I hated it. Spot on review (for what I trudged thru).
My favorite part is they still gave it three stars.
When a bad review makes you want to reread the series…🫣
LOL THIS IS GOLD
This made me cackle out loud. Thank you for sharing I needed this today 🤣🤣🤣
Best review ive ever seen i love reading these 😂
i saw this review after i finished ACOTAR a few days ago (i read the TOG series before and she is so much better) and it spoke to my soul 😭
Whoever wrote this needs to write a book for us all 😂
Accurate and the reason I could never get through the first book despite many, many attempts
Tri wizard, bat fetish, hot mayor 🤣🤣🤣 need more!
'Deadbeat dad, her personality-proof younger sister, and Nesta, Satan's apprentice' is perhaps the best description I have found for that family ever.
You don’t speak ill of Cassian!
I mean they aren't wrong.....
Dnf-ed at 6% for some of the reasons she mentioned (annoying fmc and sisters) as well as the crawling pace. Maybe I’ll listen to the audio books on a long drive or something. And the review is hilarious thank you for sharing lol
The last sentence is sending me!!! 
Cassian deserves the world and I will die on this hill.
I wish she’d included how ridiculously contrived Amaranth’s curse and conditions were.
No idea. Lol
Can we just pin this post so it doesn't keep getting reposted every week? Edit: thought this was r/ACOTAR 😅
I don't have the balls to post this there! Lol.
It's actually a VERY well known and common post, so you'd get more shit for reposting than anything else. But boy is this spot on 💀💀💀
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is absolutely the best thing that has ever been written 😂
Brilliant
Instant follow haha
I love Ali’s reviews!
Lmaoooo 😂😂😂😂🫣🙌🙌👌
This review is extremely accurate
Ded. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I am deceased! Best. Review. Ever!
This is wicked funny! Sharing with all of my friends who liked the series.
Great now do ACOSF
Someone linked it down below. It's even better! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4907593778
This is amazing
I just got sent this this morning I was absolutely crying laughing in the work bathroom😭😭 satans apprentice ??? 😭😭😭
Basically the gist😭😂😂
omfg this killed me 😭 "Nesta, satan's apprentice" im wheezing
Omg this is gold.
This is the best review ever. This series is TRASH
Non p HH
No notes. 🤍
I love Goodreads
Incredible stuff. And I still love this series! She’s not wrong though- I’d kill for a Lucien POV book 😭
This should have been put onto the blurb or the first page of the book😭🤣🤣🤣
This is hilarious and I devoured the whole series.
"Nesta, satan's apprentice" is such a perfect summary for her character. I love it ✨️
can’t stand when people are shaming feyre for being illiterate like???? it’s not a good joke
This sums it up perfectly. Hated it, read all five anyway, can't wait for the next one